SORGUN: EVERYONE WAS THERE EXCEPT FOR THOSE WHO SAID 'WHERE IS THE STATE'

AKYÜREK: KONYA IS DOING AN HEROIC WORK IN HATAY

KILCA: KONYA IS THE CORE OF TURKEY

PEKYATIRMAKCI: THE STATE-NATION WAS IN THE EARTHQUAKE ZONE

KAVUŞ: AS KONYA, WE GAVE A GOOD EXAM IN HATAY

BABACAN: THE WORKSHOP WILL MAKE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO OUR FUTURE

CEYLAN: CIVIL SOCIETY IN KONYA IS THE STRONGEST IN TURKEY

“Earthquake Workshop with Technical, Social, Economic, and Legal Dimensions” organized with the cooperation of Karatay Municipality and HUDER Konya Branch has started. On the first day of the workshop, held with the participation of academics, lawyers, mayors, politicians, and chamber representatives, Hasan Kılca, Meram Mayor Mustafa Kavuş, Selçuklu Mayor Ahmet Pekyatımcı, AK Party Konya Deputies Ahmet Sorgun and Tahir Akyürek talked about Hatay, which was hit the most by the earthquake, and Konya's efforts towards the region. Big names in their fields from chambers and universities made important presentations on the technical, social, and economic dimensions of the earthquake at the workshop.

“Earthquake Workshop with Technical, Social, Economic, and Legal Dimensions” organized with the cooperation of Karatay Municipality and HUDER Konya Branch has started. The workshop at Aziziye Cultural Center started with the opening speech of Lawyer Levent Babacan, Head of HUDER Konya Branch.

WE BELIEVE THAT THIS WORKSHOP WILL CONTRIBUTE TO AVOIDING GRIEF IN THE FUTURE

Lawyer Leven Babacan, the President of HUDER Konya Branch, noted that they wanted to organize such an important workshop in Konya after the earthquakes that shocked the whole of Turkey,  and said the following: "We have organized this program to discuss the disaster of the century with its technical, social, economic and legal dimensions in order to avoid new griefs, to overcome the experienced sorrows, even partially. We hope that this workshop will contribute to the prevention of grief in events such as floods and landslides, especially earthquakes, which are inevitable to be experienced from now on. I would like to thank everyone, especially our Karatay Municipality, who contributed to the organization and implementation of our program.”

THEY TALKED ABOUT KONYA'S WORK IN HATAY

After the opening speech, in the first session of the first day of the workshop, important names from Konya politics, non-governmental organizations, and local administrations talked about Hatay, which was hit the most by the earthquake, and Konya's efforts towards the region, under the title of "Earthquake Zone Impressions and What an Earthquake Suggests".

EVERYONE WAS THERE EXCEPT FOR THOSE WHO SAID 'WHERE IS THE STATE'

Ahmet Sorgun, the Konya Deputy of the AK Party, described the earthquakes that had a significant impact on 11 provinces as doomsday drills in the session moderated by Lawyer Levent Babacan, the President of HUDER Konya Branch.

In his speech, Ahmet Sorgun said: “There was almost a doomsday drill. Thank you very much, Konya. I would like to thank our metropolitan and all other municipalities, NGOs, philanthropists, businessmen, and volunteers. In those days, we have also heard those who say, "Where is the state?" Those who say this either do not know what the state is or are ill-intentioned. The one who has a concrete breaker there is also a part of the state, Red Crescent, AFAD, and NGOs are also a part of the state, and the one who drives his vehicle on the rim even though the tire of the truck is flat is also a part of the state. In other words, the state is a set of organizations. Everyone was there, except for those who said 'where is the state'. Konya was there during the Bosnian War, Konya was there during the Chechnya War, Konya was there when there was an earthquake on the Indonesian island of Java, and Konya was there again during the earthquake and flood in Pakistan. Right after the big earthquakes that hit our country, a scientific study, a workshop, is being held in Konya for the first time. Congratulations to all who contributed”

KONYA IS DOING AN HEROIC WORK IN HATAY

Tahir Akyürek, the Konya Deputy of the AK Party, expressed that Konya is in Hatay with all its power, saying the following; “There is a different meaning in Konya's genetics, its social heritage, past and present. Being a descendant of the Seljuks in these lands has a special responsibility. Konya showed this again in Hatay. There were non-governmental organizations from Konya, not only in Hatay but also in other provinces of the earthquake regions. But our teams did heroic work in Hatay. Our Mayor of Metropolitan Municipality Uğur İbrahim Altay, Selçuklu, Karatay, and Meram Mayors, deputies, and NGOs have done and continue to do exemplary work for Turkey. It befits the dignity of Konya, Turkey, our values, and those who represent our values. Konya was the strongest supporter there. I want to thank all the municipalities working in our 11 provinces.

KONYA IS THE CORE OF TURKEY

Hasan Kılca, the Mayor of Karatay, stated that they moved to the region under the coordination of Konya Governorship, Konya Metropolitan Municipality, and AFAD, as of the first hours of the earthquake, and said that Konya showed a great example of self-sacrifice.

Mayor Hasan Kılca continued his speech as follows; “In the first 8 to 9 days after the earthquake, aid materials went to many items from Konya. In this process, we delivered over one million pieces of bread to the region through Karatay Halk Ekmek. We delivered 100 trucks of aid materials we collected from the Karatay district to the region. Its sustainability is also extremely important. We also carried out search and rescue, debris removal, and other activities and we continue to do so. To date, 60 heavy construction equipment and more than 400 personnel have worked in the region, and they continue to do so. We carry out cleaning, disinfection, and similar works in Antakya and Reyhanlı districts. We are establishing children's playgroups in the region, and we are doing some activities for the children there. We also have activities for the children of the families hosted in Konya. Konya is the core of Turkey, and I believe that our material and moral assistance to the region will continue in the future, as it has been until today. We started the construction of a Konya Neighbourhood consisting of 1000 containers in Hatay together with our Konya Governorship, Metropolitan Municipality, district municipalities, NGOs, and chambers. We will complete this space as soon as possible and make it available to earthquake victims. A love bond was established between Hatay and Konya. I hope this bond will continue to get stronger.”

WE ATTACH GREAT IMPORTANCE TO URBAN TRANSFORMATION IN KARATAY

Mayor Hasan Kılca, who underlined that as Karatay Municipality, they carried out major urban transformations in the district, said the following; “We have established three cooperatives in the last four years, and we are preparing to establish two more cooperatives. We exert effort to produce 1700 safe modern residences in an area of 140.000 sqm² in total. So far, 43 cooperatives have been established under the leadership of Karatay Municipality. We have built a total of 22.000 residences in these three million sqm² of land. We started to work on urban transformation in an area of 250.000 sqm²in the Aziziye Neighbourhood, 105.000 sqm² in the Akçeşme Neighbourhood, and 87.000 sqm² in the Sultan Mesut Neighbourhood. We, the Karatay Municipality have paid 135 million expropriation costs so far in these areas where we have expropriated most”.

OUR STATE AND NATION, OUR LOCAL ADMINISTRATIONS, AND NGOs ARE THERE.

Ahmet Pekyatımcı, the Mayor of Selcuklu, pointed out that Konya Municipalities have been in the disaster area since the first day of the earthquake.

Mayor Ahmet Pekyatımcı said the following; “From the first moment of the earthquake, our state, our nation, our local governments, and our NGOs have been in the earthquake zone. Wherever the state-nation could reach and access, whatever they could do, they made an effort and endeavor. I would like to express my gratitude toward all our ministers, especially our President, deputies, and everyone who served there because it is not simple work to act quickly in such a big disaster and to groan under this in this context.”

AS KONYA, WE GAVE A GOOD EXAM IN HATAY

Mustafa Kavuş, the Mayor of Meram, said that all Konya municipalities declared mobilization to heal the wounds of Hatay since the first day of the earthquake.

Mayor Mustafa Kavuş said the following; “We have declared mobilization with all our district municipalities, especially our Konya Metropolitan Municipality in Hatay from the first day. We, Konya, have been standing by our sisters and brothers from Hatay since the first day of the earthquake. We took care of their every need, and continue to do so. We tried our best to do our part. I can say that we gave a good exam in Hatay as Konya. We have ongoing work on urban transformation. However, Konya is not an earthquake zone with a high risk. Considering its devastating effects, we continue our work in Konya. "We have to be prepared as if an earthquake will always happen,"

CIVIL SOCIETY IN KONYA IS THE STRONGEST IN TURKEY

Adem Ceylan, the President of the Konya Civil Society Organizations Platform, who took the floor at the first session of the workshop, emphasized that it is very difficult to describe the process experienced.

Adem Ceylan said the following; “Our municipalities showed a very serious reaction from the first moment of the earthquake. Our non-governmental organizations also sent search and rescue teams, aid trucks, and mobile soup kitchens to the zone by maximizing their power and operational capability. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the civil society power in Konya ranks first among the non-governmental organizations in Turkey. Non-governmental organizations of Konya showed a heroic sacrifice. The number of trucks sent by our institutions has exceeded 500. Similarly, our search and rescue teams stayed in the zone from the first day. In every earthquake zone, we go to,  we have made every effort and continue to do so as a stakeholder with AFAD, Red Crescent, and Disaster coordination centers".

THE TECHNICAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC DIMENSIONS OF THE EARTHQUAKE ARE DISCUSSED

In the second session of the first day of the workshop, Konya Technical University Rector Prof. Dr. Osman Nuri Çelik was the moderator. Prof. Fetullah Arık from the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences of Konya Technical University, Süleyman Kamil Akın, President of the Konya Branch of the Chamber of Civil Engineers, Osman Örs, the President of the Konya Branch of the Chamber of City Planners, Şükrü Aslan, the President of the Konya Branch of the Chamber of Geological Engineers, Assistant Prof. Ruhi Can Alkın, a faculty member at Necmettin Erbakan University, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Associate Professor Erdal Arslan from the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Selçuk University made their presentations on the topic of "Earthquake with its Technical, Economic and Social Dimensions"..